Cookies and Sakura
by xXShiningintheDarkXx
Summary: /SasuSaku/ "I fell in love with you, not for your looks but for who you are." Sasuke has something to tell Sakura, and he is dreading her reaction. She was really fragile and he was afraid of breaking her. Again. One-shot. A little fluff. Minimal angst. Rated K . R&R! Enjoy!


Hey guys!

I'm back again with another one-shot. It's just a random thought which popped up in my head. What would ahve happened if Sasuke was brought back to the lEaf Village during the Sasuke Retrieval Arc?! So, yah...

**Title:** Cookies and Sakura

**Prompt:** Sasuke Retrieval Arc

**Warnings**: A little OOC-ness? :P

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto! Otherwise there would be romance between Sasuke and Sakura already! :P **

* * *

"Ahh! It's good to back home!" Naruto said enthusiastically as Team 7 walked throughout the tall, towering gates of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Sasuke and Sakura trailed in after him, the former appearing nonchalant , the latter quite beaten down but still cheerful. Their sensei, Kakashi walked behind them, immersed in his perverted book.

"I wonder how Naruto is still so hyper after that last mission!" Sakura groaned as she stretched, pulling her arms above her head. The muscles in her back were soothed as a few vertebrae popped for her comfort. Sasuke silently agreed with her. Even though he would not admit it, he too was tired and battered after the B-ranked escort mission.

Sakura stretched a last time and took a swig of water from her flask. She deposited it into her shinobi pack, the strap ran across one shoulder and over her chest, the bag resting against her hip. Dropping the flask into her bag, she turned to her team and said,"Well, I'm off to see Tsunade-sama. We still have some training to do! Ja ne!"

Sakura began to walk away, her white clan symbol standing out from the blood red of her clothed back. Sasuke started walking, following her. After a few lengthy strides, he fell into step beside her. Sakura glanced up, surprised to see the Uchiha boy walking with her.

"Sasuke-kun, what are you.."

"Isn't it obvious? I'm coming to watch you train."

At his words, a pretty blush painted Sakura's cheekbones. Sasuke noticed this, and inwardly groaned. He just wanted to see how much Sakura had improved since the last month. She didn't quite have a chance to show it in the previous mission as she was the medic of the team. The boys of the team were also pretty protective of her, not allowing the kunoichi to jump into battle.

"O-Okay then." she muttered, cursing herself for stuttering. She remembered the promise she had made to herself, a few months ago; she was, under no circumstances, to appear like a fangirl to Sasuke. So lost in her thoughts and not watching where she was going, she tripped over a very blatant rock, falling towards the ground.

She braced herself for impact, rocketing towards the ground, too surprised to hold out her arms to stop her fall. She hit the ground, all her breath knocked out of her.

And it hurt, like hell, because she fell on a massive bruise that had formed because of a well aimed kick from a rogue shinobi. Sasuke had taken care of him after that, shooting multiple fireballs at him, causing the whole group to retreat.

But to Sakura, that did not matter at all in the current situation. She had just tripped over a very obvious rock.

Right in front of the boy she so desperately wanted to impress.

* * *

"_Smooth one, Sakura…_" she berated herself, wincing as she sat up, clutching her throbbing side. Summoning healing chakra into her hands, she passed it over the bruise, soothing the pain and repairing muscle.

She smiled with relief as she cut off the healing chakra. She wasn't at the level where she could completely heal an injury, but it was a start. Sensing Sasuke's chakra, she looked up sheepishly at the raven-haired boy, who was smirking.

"So clumsy…" he muttered, walking past her.

A vein popped out on her forehead as she stuck her foot out, surprising the Uchiha, who stumbled over it but managed to remain upright. She grinned at the annoyed expression on his face.

"Says you, Uchiha!" she snorted, lifting herself from the ground and dusting herself off. Both the teenagers walked together in a comfortable silence towards the training grounds. Finally, they came to the fork in the road that led to either a series of apartments that Sasuke lived at or to the training grounds. Sakura immediately started towards the left where the training fields lay, clear and pristine in the bright morning…..

She frowned, noticing the lack of sunshine. Grey clouds had drifted in from the horizon, bringing with them the imminent threat of rain.

"Oi! Snap out of it!"

Sakura shook her head, clearing her mind. Sasuke stood, mildly irritated at the start of the right side of the forked road. in the road. Sakura tilted her head to the side, slightly confused.

"Where are you going Sasuke-kun? The training ground's this way." she said, pointing to the clearing behind her. Turning around, Sasuke began walking away from her. He cocked his head slightly towards her and said, "Look up. It's going to start pouring any minute, and I don't have any umbrellas. So you can crash at my place for a while."

Sakura let his words roll over her, unfazed until he reached the part about her staying over at his apartment. A small blush again lightly coated her alabaster cheekbones, a few shades lighter than her signature pink hair. Jogging slightly to catch up to her team-mate, she felt several drops of water land on her skin.

Picking up her pace, she passed Sasuke, motioning to him to hurry up. More droplets of water began to fall, dark spots peppering the dry ground.

The sky opened up, releasing torrents of rain pouring down on the two young teenagers as they ran through the almost solid sheets of water. Sasuke activated his Sharingan, as he could not discern anything through the wall of water and fog. Spotting his apartment complex, he grabbed Sakura's wrist and ran towards the familiar oak and brick foundation.

He let out a sigh of relief as they stopped underneath the cover of the roof, which was making a loud pitter-patter sound as the water drops relentlessly pounded against it. While Sasuke searched for his keys, Sakura wrung out the excess water from her hair and clothes, as she didn't want to mess up Sasuke's apartment. Her shinobi pack was wet, But Sakura wasn't worried. The inside was lined with waterproof material, preventing her belongings from getting wet.

The lock clicked open as Sasuke stuffed and turned the key in the lock, turning the cold silver knob. The oak door creaked as it swung open, revealing a dimly lit hallway. Stepping out from the cold, they both deposited their shoes in the entry. Sakura stood, damp and shivering, while the Uchiha heir flicked on the lights. He paused as lightning lit up the cloudy sky outside. Decisively switching off the electricity, he turned to Sakura.

"Stay here, I'm going to go get some candles."

Disappearing into the dark of his apartment, he left Sakura in the doorway. Hunting through a cupboard, Sasuke found some candles and two towels.

Walking back to the doorway, his Sharingan shone red in the dark. Sakura took in a sharp breath of air as she saw the flash of red coming from within the apartment, but relaxed as she realised it was just Sasuke. He threw a towel at her, hitting her right in the face. Removing it with much difficulty, as she could not see in the dark, she glared at the twin red lamps in the dark.

She felt a small spike in chakra, sending more shivers down her back. A flame lit up the corridor before her, before brightening a bit more. Blinking to adjust, Sakura stared over the tip of the candle at Sasuke, his Sharingan darkening in colour, fading to onyx.

They both stood awkwardly, not used to having each other in their private apartments. As always, Sakura was the first one to break the silence.

"Sasuke-kun?" she asked, looking up curiously at her teammate's face.

"Hn?" he grunted back, bringing up the towel to his hair, drying it roughly.

"Do you have any tea?" she asked, shivering again as she mimicked his movements,more gently as she towelled off her hair. Wrapping the slightly damp towel around her, she almost cooed at the warmth that surrounded her.

Sasuke nodded his head towards the kitchen, handing her another candle as he headed to what Sakura figured was the living room. Light slowly flooded into the room as the living area was lit up with more fire light. Bringing the wick to the other candles placed along the shoe cabinet, Sakura hurried into the kitchen, eager to make some warm tea.

* * *

Sasuke performed the necessary seals for the fireball jutsu. Almost lazily, he tilted his head back and lifted his hand to his mouth, directing the chakra in his mouth. He blew a small ball of fire, just enough for the amount of wood. It shot out, right into the awaiting fireplace. While the wood caught fire, he lit other candles that were placed strategically around the room, giving it a mellow glow.

Hearing Sakura puttering around in the kitchen, Sasuke sat down in front of the fire, running a hand through his hair, which was slowly returning to its former spikiness. His clothes dried out after a few minutes, a bit warm from the fire. Sasuke rubbed his hands together, trying to get it warmer. Noticing the lack of sound from the kitchen, he turned towards the doorway.

Sakura appeared in the doorway, clutching two hot mugs. They looked almost heavenly, steam curling invitingly out from the rim of the cup, the delicious scent of aromatic lemon tea beginning to permeate the room. The wasn't the only thing that looked inviting though. Sakura's dress clung to her body, almost like a second skin. He could see the light bulge of her breasts, and the curves of her petite hips and bottom. Her skin practically glowed in the candlelight, usually sharp green eyes more toned down. The light softened up her facial features, making her look more mature. The light gave her lips a very pretty pink hue, almost kissable….

Sasuke shook his head, clearing his mind of the impure thoughts. He wasn't going to be having such thoughts when he had just repaired his friendship with Sakura after leaving the village.

Just a few hours after he had left the village, a strong retrieval team had come after them, taking out his escort successfully but had much difficulty in doing so. In the end, after he had knocked out Naruto, an ANBU team had arrived to wrap things up. Sasuke was forcibly brought back to the village, and placed under strict observation. Word of Sasuke's betrayal hadn't spread far; only the Rookie Nine, their sensei's and a couple of ANBU knew about the incident.

A months before, Team 7 was back together, going on regular missions. During his time under observation, Sasuke had missed a lot. Sakura apparently, under the tutelage of Tsunade herself, was learning about medical ninjutsu, along with sharpening her taijutsu and offensive ninjutsu. She had also done a couple of genjutsu lessons with Kurenai, but didn't need it, as she was a natural at illusionary techniques. Naruto was under Jiraya's wing, perfecting the Rasengan and summoning techniques. Kakashi was just being Kakashi, reading his perverted book.

In the span of a month, during missions, he had regained the trust of his teammates, and everything was back to normal. Sakura was rapidly catching up to the skill level of him and Naruto, her efforts at training with the Godaime Hokage paying off.

Sasuke turned back to the fireplace, onyx eyes reflecting the dancing fire among the burning wood and coal. Sakura made her way towards him, handing Sasuke his mug before setting hers down carefully on the coffee table. She disappeared into the hallway again, returning moments later with her backpack. Plopping down across from him, she rummaged through the pack before extracting a packet of her favourite triple chocolate chip cookies.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the cookies, shooting a glance at Sakura, at the cookies and then back to Sakura. She held it and said protectively,"It's my stash of cookies! Go get your own."

He scoffed. "After being on the same team for almost an year, I thought you would have realised I hate sweets."

"Well, you weren't exactly warm and lovely to us." she replied sarcastically.

Throwing a glare at her, he took a sip of his warm tea. It soothed his insides, warming him up instantly. The fresh scent of lemon was refreshing, wakening his senses. Only then did he remember his true, original reason for escorting Sakura to the training field.

"Sakura," he began, a little hesitant. She looked over at him, a quizzical expression on her face, her teeth nibbling on the edge of a cookie, She looked like the epitome of innocence. Swallowing, he looked away, the movement of her lips becoming a little more distracting.

"What is it, Sasuke-kun?" she inquired, sensing his discomfort.

"I assume Naruto told you he's leaving in a few days?" he asked, a bit uncomfortablly, still not looking at her. He dreaded his next words.

She blinked. "Yeah, That's nothing new."

He closed his eyes. "Well, Kakashi and I are leaving too."

She tilted her head to the side, semi-dried, pink strands of hair falling into her face. Annoyed, she pushed it back behind her ears

"For a mission?" she asked, clueless. Sakura wondered where Sasuke was going with this conversation. Suddenly, realisation hit her and her eyes widened as she realised what Sasuke was talking about. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Gripping the front of her dress, she tried again.

"You mean you're leaving? A-again?"

His eyes narrowed at the sound of approaching tears from the trembling of her voice. Moving over to her side, he put a finger underneath her chin, forcing her to look up at him. Glassy green orbs met determined and slightly guilty onyx.

"For a few years. Just for training."

Jerking her chin out of his grasp, she gazed at the dying out fire, watching the yellow, red and blue flames flickering simultaneously, intricately weaving together to form a dance. A thoughtful expression took over her, the tears momentarily forgotten.

"I think Team 7 is like fire."

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. He lifted a hand to the pinkette's forehead, checking her temperature. She caught his wrist.

"What are you doing?"

"Do you have a fever Sakura?"

"No! Why would you think that?"

"Because you're blabbering nonsense!"

"It's not nonsense!" she yelled. Sasuke flinched at the piercing volume, as she yelled right in his ear. Muttering a brief sorry, she let go of his wrist.

"The colours of the fire. You see yellow, red and blue." Sasuke still looked confused, which was quite a funny expression on him.

"Well, yellow is for Naruto, red is for me and blue is for you Sasuke-kun! Oh, and the wood is Kakashi-sensei!" she chirped, pointing out the different colours flickering in and out of the flaming wood. Sasuke smirked at her analogy for their team. He took another sip of tea. Sakura did the same.

Moving closer, she leaned her head on Sasuke's shoulder. He slightly tensed, not used to the contact. She didn't move away, so he began to relax after a while. Not sure what to do, he just placed an awkward arm on her waist. She sighed and buried her face in the warm sleeve of his shirt, cherishing the warmth the boy had. He pressed his cheek to the top of her head, pink locks tickling the slightly tanned skin.

"I'm going to miss you Sasuke-kun."

"Aa. Me too."

They stayed like that throughout the entire storm, keeping each other company, both of them forgetting their troubles lying entwined on the living room floor.

* * *

Sakura sprinted through the crowd, green eyes frantically searching for the familiar orange and blue. Swerving around various civilians, she ran faster than she ever had. Finally, after ten minutes of solid running, the village gates appeared in her view in the distance. Putting the last ounces of the energy she had left, she bolted towards the four figures who had just stepped out the gates.

"NARUTO! SASUKE! KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

They all turned around at the sound of her voice. Naruto's face lit up at the pink haired kunoichi who was making he way towards them. He ran back inside the village, followed closely by Sasuke. Kakashi and Jiraya remained at the gates, watching as the two male members of Team 7 gave their goodbyes to their pink-haired teammates.

Naruto crashed into the red form of the kunoichi, lifting her up off the ground with the force of his hug. She laughed as he spun her around, hitting his arms to get him to put her down. As soon as he did, she bonked him on the head. With her developing strength, she managed to raise a big lump on the blonde's head.

"ITAI! What was that for Sakura-chan?" Naruto shouted, fake tears running down his face.

She merely grinned at him, then turned to Sasuke. He was smirking at her, arms folded. He slowly unfolded them, resting them at his sides. As soon as he did this, Sakura hugged him, burying her face in his slightly muscular chest. Sasuke put his hands around her, resting them lightly on her waist. She inhaled deeply, taking in her last breath that was laced with his intoxicating scent.

He leaned his head down, brushing his lips against her ear. She shivered at the hot air tickling her skin.

"Wait for us. For me."

Without another word, he brushed his lips along her cheek for a brief moment, before he released her and started walking towards the gates, dragging a whining Naruto with him, who was complaining about getting a punch instead of a hug.

She laughed, waving her hand at the retreating backs of the four ninja. As soon as they were out of her sight, she turned around, gazing at the Hokage monument and promised something to herself.

_"__I will become stronger as well. Count on it Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun!"_

_**~ I fell in love with you. Not for how you look, but for who you are.~**_

* * *

Whew! Now that that's done, I can finish the second chapter of Useful! I've decided to keep it as a series of one-shots, as I can't commit to writng a multi-shaptered story right now.

A sequel to Cookies and Sakura WILL be posted by another title in a few weeks/ months. Count on it.

A big shoutout to my beta-reader, hypheniated. Thank you so much for your awesome editing! :)

Check out my other stories and don't forget to R&R!

**xXShiningintheDarkXx**


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